


Beauty from Playground

by rimle



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eren is 6, Fluff, HOW CUTE IS THAT, Is this light angst?, Levi is 7, Levi's mom doesn't die, M/M, a lot of shit about smiling, babies being cute babies, baby!ereri, babysitter mikasa, childhood AU, eh?, eren is a smart kid, how does one summary?, i like parents when they're nice and alive, i open my mouth and the fluff comes out, should i tag it?, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-05-31 20:38:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6486643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rimle/pseuds/rimle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From his window, Levi can see children run around on the playground nearby. He has never been there, never played with other children.</p><p>Until he meets Eren, a boy who smiles at him when no one else does. And for some reason, Eren wants to be his friend.</p><p>Or: a childhood au where Levi lives with his mom, Eren is a smart kid, and everything's adorable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a horrible person who stalks little children from the window. 
> 
> I'm kidding. Kind of.
> 
> One day I was going home when I saw these two little boys talking to each other through the playground fence. And I thought it was adorable. I imagined my otp.
> 
> I haven't decided where the events of this fic take place. It doesn't really matter.  
> BUT  
> In my country we start school at age 7. At age 6 some of us go to preschool and so on. So in this fic, Levi is in first grade, Eren is in preschool. That's how I've grown up, that's how this thing works for me.
> 
>    
> Enjoy~

Because it was the first real day of spring, with the sunshine and warmth and all of the snow and ice melded from around the swings, the only thing that matched the noise of the loud birds were the screams of the kids, running on the playground.

Levi held his backpack tight and tried to walk faster. He hated that he had to walk past the stupid playground every day. The children, though not too many years younger than him, were messy and loud and dumb, almost as irritating as the kids at school. And now they would spend even more time outside.

And he never got to be there with them.

Even though his home was right next to the kindergarten and preschool the playground was attached to, Levi had never went there. He had never played in the sandbox or hid behind the two big trees. Never played tag or hide and seek, only watched from the window while other children did, laughing and smiling.

Mom had taken care of him when he was little, doing the best she could raising him alone. She never talked about the money with Levi, but Levi still knew they didn't have much of it.

They had it simple, but they had it good enough.

Oh, was Mom proud when Levi got to go to school! Every morning she woke him up with a kiss, prepared him breakfast and a sandwich for lunch (he always got a sandwich, no matter what), making sure he had clean clothes and that he was all ready for the day. She would stand on the door when he left, then go to watch him from the window.

So Levi went to school and did his best there, to make Mom happy. And because he was still way too young to go work anywhere.

The school was just a few minute walk away, which was perfect. Levi quickly learned to walk there on his own. The only thing that bothered him, was the playground. It was so close, but so out of reach.

It was surrounded by a metal fence. That alone made Levi feel unwelcome.

Every time Levi walked past it, he heard the happy voices of the children. It was easier just to think they were all stupid. That he wouldn't want to join them, anyway.

"Hi! You there!" a clear voice called.

Levi stopped and looked around, not seeing anyone around him. But there, leaning against the fence, a brown haired boy, waving his short arm at him.

"Yes, you!" The boy shouted. "Could you please get that ball? I'm not supposed get to the other side."

Levi saw the worn out football few feet away from the fence.

"Why can't you ask a teacher to get it?" Levi asked the boy, but helped anyway. The boy had said 'please'.

The boy reached his arms up over the fence as Levi picked up the ball.

"Thank youuuuuu!"

Levi gave the ball to him, the boy grinned.

Levi took a better look at him.

He hadn't known boys could be beautiful. He had thought it was just something people said about girls. He knew that many had said his Mom was beautiful, but other than that, Levi hadn't actually understood what it meant.

But looking at the boy behind the fence, Levi thought he might now know what 'beautiful' was. For Levi, from that moment on, it meant that there was something that made Levi look longer. Something that made him feel happy. Somehow.

He was thankful he could look at this boy, see his smile, his bright eyes and messy hair. It almost felt like Levi shouldn't. Like the boy would vanish if he kept looking for too long.

But Levi very much wanted to keep looking.

And he also very much liked the laugh the boy gave him at that moment.

"What are you staring at?" the boy asked, hugging the ball.

"Nothing."

The boy pressed his forehead against the metal fence, as if wishing he could get closer to Levi. "What's your name?"

"Levi."

"Hi Levi! I'm Eren."

"Okay."

There was that laugh again.

"You should come play with us!" Eren said, excited.

And he was nice! Usually when other people met Levi they assumed he was just cranky and angry (which was accurate, on some days, on the days when Mom told Levi he hadn't gotten enough sleep). No one really wanted to play with him.

And because Levi didn't quite know how to be with other children, other than to sit next to them in class, he told Eren: "No."

Eren made a face. "Why?"

Why was he so sad about it?

"I have to do my homework", Levi explained.

Eren's eyes widened with awe. "Are you in school?"

Levi was getting used to people thinking he was younger than he actually was. Because he was small. Eren must have been younger than him, yet he was good few inches taller than Levi.

"Yes", Levi answered.

"That's so cool!" Eren was jumping up and down, hands gripping on the ball.

Levi said nothing.

"Eren!" Someone shouted. "Let's play already!"

"That's Jean", Eren told Levi, ignoring the other boy. "He threw the ball over there, so now I'll tell him that he won't touch this ball again. You could have come play in his place."

"Sorry", Levi actually meant it. He actually wanted to join the other boy, that weirdly happy and friendly being.

But he also, really, had to get home to Mom. It was Friday, and Fridays were Mom's work days, as were Wednesdays and Saturdays.

"Maybe some other day then?" Eren asked with hope all over his face. "My home is in that yellow building. I can ask my babysitter if we can come here tomorrow to play and then you can come with us. Is your home near?"

"Yeah." In fact, it was the same house Eren had just pointed. Eren's family probably lived in one of the bigger apartments. "But I don't know if I can come."

Eren made another face. "Can you try?"

Levi looked at Eren and was sure he wanted to meet him again.

"I can try."

"Yay!" Eren jumped. "See you later!"

Levi nodded, Eren ran back to his friends. Levi looked after him for a while, wondering about what had just happened.

He got home and washed his hands. Twice, because he had touched that gross ball.

Mom was still asleep on their bed. She would wake up in few hours, cook Levi a dinner from whatever they had left in the fridge, before leaving to work.

As usual, Levi would go with her.

Not to the actual room, but to the blood read leather couch at the lobby, where after doing his homework, Levi did a lot of drawing. Though, he still sucked at it.

He would fall asleep on that couch, and the madame who worked at the reception would give him a blanket. After work Mom would carry him home. On some nights, even if it wasn't a Friday, or a Saturday, or a Wednesday, Mom would stay up late on the phone, usually making the calls from bathroom, careful not to wake Levi up.

She had gotten the chance to rent them their own place after Levi's birth. They only had one room, a kitchen and a bathroom. They didn't even have a dinner table, so every day Levi and his Mom would pretend they were on a picnic. On their picnics, Mom told him about forests full of green trees and trolls, fields filled with flowers and fairies. And the ocean. Mom said it was like a big bathtub, so big there was animals living in it. And mermaids.

Levi went to their tiny kitchen to make some tea. He got a cup for his Mom, too, because Mom loved his tea, even though it would always be cold when she woke up.

He sat on the floor and got out his books. He tried to be as quiet as possible, so Mom wouldn't have to wake up just yet.

Levi tried to do his homework, mostly because that had been the reason he had left the beautiful boy. Because if he wouldn't do the homework, it would mean he had lied. And now he would have more time to draw.

Tonight, Levi wanted to draw a little boy with messy hair, big eyes and a mouth that smiled at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please, let me know if you liked it~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like I can't write without a plan so I planned a plan and the plan has about 10 chapters. Because 10 is a nice number.

Eren stood by the window and pressed his face against the cold glass.

"How was your day, honey?" Mom asked him. She was cooking dinner before leaving for her night shift at the hospital. Mom was a nurse, she saved lives.

"I got a new friend!" Eren told her.

"Oh!" Mom sounded happy. "What's her name?"

"His name is Levi and he will come play with me tomorrow."

"That's great, sweetie." Mom set the table for them and Dad, who would be coming home soon. "I'm happy you have friends. I'd very much like to meet him."

"He's a little boy, like me. He's in school!" Eren said, eyes on the playground and the road next to it.

"Really?" Mom asked.

"Really!" Eren assured.

Eren couldn't wait for school to start next fall. He already knew how to read and how to do some math. Dad had taught him. Eren liked books, books with pictures, because then he could really see new things, not just with his imagination but with his eyes, too.

He couldn't imagine how much new he would learn at school. There was so much to now. And the school had a much better playground!

"He said he lives near here. I'm waiting if I'll see him go outside."

Mom knelt beside him.

"But you're seeing him tomorrow?"

"Yes. But if I know exactly where he lives, I can go ask him out by myself", Eren explained.

He heard the door. Dad was home.

"Dad!" Eren shouted. Usually he would run to meet him in the hallway but now he had to keep his eyes on the road.

"Hi, Eren. Hi, Carla." Dad appeared next to them and gave Mom a kiss.

Eren never knew why adults did that, gave kisses. Mom said it was because they loved the one they kissed, but Eren wasn't sure what that meant, either. Maybe it was something he would figure out when he got older.

While Mom and Dad continued talking about some adult things, Eren kept looking from the window. And then he saw the door of their building open, and out walked a black haired woman and a child with dark, worn out clothes.

"That's him!" Eren announced to Mom and quickly pulled her to look with him. "That's Levi!"

In his building! Levi's home was in the same building as his own! That was the closest any of his friends lived. That would be so fun!

"Who's Levi?" Dad asked.

"Eren's new friend", Mom explained and then said: "Isn't that Ms. Ackerman from third floor?"

Third floor. Eren home was in the fifth floor. So that was...two floors down?

"How small is that poor child", Dad noted. "He will stay short, if she won't feed him well."

"I'm sure she does the best she can", Mom said, giving Dad a look Eren didn't understand.

Levi and his mom walked quickly to the bus stop. Good thing it could be seen from the window! His mom made Levi sit on the bench. Levi's feet didn't reach the ground, but he didn't swing his legs like Eren would have done.

"I don't care if he's small", Eren told Dad.

Mom smiled at him. "You'll be a great friend to him, darling."

Eren nodded. "I know."

Levi was talking with his mom who then leaned to tickle him. Eren wished he could see better from this far. He wanted to see Levi smile and laugh, like other children. He was sure Levi could do that. Didn't everyone?

The bus arrived, and Levi and his mom left with it.

"Will you now come sit with us, Eren?" Dad asked from the table.

Eren did.

They had dinner, chicken with potatoes and vegetables. And for dessert, Eren and Dad would make a blueberry pie.

But not yet, because Dad wanted to watch the news first. Eren tried to watch with him, because that was something the big children did, but Dad told him to go help Mom in the kitchen. Eren didn't really care about politics(the only thing that kept him watching the news was to see reporters call from different countries) so he went.

Mom had been cleaning and she was already done when he joined her. She looked to the living room and Eren knew she was thinking about Dad when she had that kind of a warm smile on her face. She really liked Dad. And Dad liked Mom, that's why he had married her. After she had said yes, of course.

"Mom?"

Mom knelt to look at him. "Yes, dear?"

"If I become a doctor, like Dad", Eren asked. "Will I marry a nurse, too?"

Mom gave a gentle laugh and kissed his cheek. Eren wiped it off, even though he secretly liked it when Mom kissed him. It meant that she loved him, right?

And apparently love was a good thing.

"I don't know, honey", Mom answered. "You will marry whoever you like."

Eren kept silent for a while, letting Mom smooth his hair like she had been doing from the day he had been born. Eren wanted to grow his hair long, just so Mom could touch it like that.

"Is there any boy-nurses?" Eren then asked.

"Sure there is. There's five of them working with me at the moment." Mom smiled. "But I'm afraid they're too old for you, honey."

Of course Eren knew they were too old. They were adults. Duh.

Mom asked: "Do you want to marry a boy, Eren?"

Eren thought about it.

"I don't know", he answered.

Eren didn't know if he wanted to marry anyone. He was a kid. Kids didn't marry.

But maybe when he was older he would marry someone. And for that, he liked to have options.

Sometimes it was fun to imagine what it would be like, to be older. What would he look like? Would he be tall? Where would he work? Would he be a doctor, like Dad, or a vet, or a police man, or maybe a teacher? Would he have his own house? He wanted to have a dog, for sure.

"Do you think Levi likes dogs?"

"You can ask him tomorrow", Mom reminded him.

"I will!"

Soon he should write a list of things he wanted to tell Levi. But he only knew how to write his own name.

It was so exciting, getting a new friend!

Mom had to leave, so she kissed them both good bye and good night. After she had left, Eren and Dad made the pie and ate it. It wasn't as good as the last time, but it didn't bother Eren. They left some of it to Mom.

Dad asked if Eren would like to watch or play something, but Eren only wanted to stay next to the window. He didn't know where Levi and his Mom had gone, but he wanted to see if he could catch them coming back.

Dad gave him a chair to sit on.

So Eren sat there and watched the sunset while waiting. Dad let him brush his teeth by the window. He started to become so tired he almost fell from the chair.

In the end, Eren didn't see Levi again that night.

 _Tomorrow, then_ , he wished as he lay in his small bed, listening Dad reading him a bedtime story about pirates who sailed the seas, traveling to far way lands. He tried his best to remember every bit of it, so he could tell it to Levi. Tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like parents when they're nice and alive.


	3. Chapter 3

"Levi", Mom called, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "Breakfast is ready."

Levi opened his eyes and gave her a sleepy smile. She let him sleep almost till midday on Saturdays, finishing her own breakfast first before making eggs for Levi. Saturdays were the only days he would, or could, get eggs for breakfast.

Mom looked tired, there were those familiar dark circles under her eyes, but she had a loving smile on her face. No matter how many night she stayed up, she would always smile at Levi.

She went to the kitchen, but stopped to look out of the window.

"Is that the boy you drew yesterday?"

"What?" Levi jumped out of the bed and ran right to the window. The floor felt cold under his bare feet.

He hadn't told Mom about meeting Eren, he didn't feel like it was something he needed to tell. Though, he hadn't stopped thinking about those few minutes with that nice and beautiful boy. Even if it had been just that one time. Eren was probably just a silly little child, who didn't actually want to see Levi again.

Eren had just been nice. Maybe, probably, he was like that to everyone.

Levi knew there was no point in getting his hopes up. So, he hadn't gotten his Mom's hopes up, either.

But Mom had seen his drawings last night. She knew Levi only drew things he had seen.

And, even with Levi's terrible doodling skills, anyone could have recognized the boy playing outside, with his wild hair and green clothes, juts like Levi had remembered. He also remembered that the clothes matched his bright eyes.

The boy, Eren, was running around a dark haired girl, whose eyes followed his every movement.

Levi now knew he had seen him there earlier, many times, actually. Running around, playing with his friends and the girl, who was probably a babysitter. They always laughed so loud Levi could hear it through the window. With at least five children jumping around at the same time, Levi had never noticed Eren, just Eren.

This time, however, he was the only child there. Levi couldn't understand how he hadn't known about his existence before. Eren was so all over the place Levi was sure they could see him from the moon.

Eren stopped running and, without a warning, turned to stare at Levi's window.

Right at Levi.

Did Eren know he lived here? _How_ did he know?

Eren grabbed the babysitter's jacket and said something to her, pointing at Levi. His smile was wide, all of his white teeth shining in the sun.

Levi quickly backed off from the window and sat back on the floor.

"What's the matter?" Mom asked and handed him his breakfast.

"Nothing", Levi mumbled, his head down.

Mom kept looking at the playground.

"You could join them."

"Mmh."

Mom was grateful when Levi helped her, cleaning and making tea every day, doing everything he could. And Levi knew that. But some days it was clear she was hoping Levi would just go outside, to play with other children. Make friends.

Levi never did, mostly because he could see how everyone, children and adults, looked at him. Like he had just come from a cave, his skin pale, eyes avoiding the too bright sun. Small as a kindergartner, angry at everything (though, he wasn't. He just seemed like it, so people made it their truth).

Eren hadn't looked at him like that, not for a second. He had only smiled and laughed and been so wonderfully impressed when he had learned Levi was in school.

Levi didn't know those kind of people existed. People who would give him beautiful smiles like his Mom.

Levi wanted to join Eren. But he wouldn't just run outside and hope that Eren still wanted to see him. For a seven year old, he had some pride.

_Don't get your hopes up._

Mom sat next to him, carefully placing her thin arm around him as he ate.

"He waved at you", she whispered in his hair.

Levi lifted his head in surprise. "He did?"

Mom nodded. "Just before you walked away."

Levi kept silent, not daring to think or even smile.

_Don't get your hopes up._

"Have you talked to him?" She sounded neutral. Levi knew she cared, she knew Levi didn't want her to make a big deal out of things.

"Yes."

Not even if this actually was a big deal, to both of them.

"His name is Eren."

Before Mom could answer, there was a knock on the door. She went to get it while Levi finished his eggs.

He listened as the door opened and a new voice spoke.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Ackerman-"

The girl's voice was cut by an energetic, "Hello, Ms. Ackerman!"

And even though Levi had heard the voice only once, only for a short while, he already knew who it was.

He almost choked on his food, almost threw the plate away and went to hide under the bed.

"Is Levi home?" He could her Eren ask.

What was the funny feeling inside Levi's belly? Was he sick? Had the eggs been bad?

Oh no, he couldn't puke now, it would be so embarrassing!

Mom gave out a surprised laugh. "Yes. Yes, he is." Then she said, little louder, with a wide grin in her words: "Levi! It's for you."

Levi was sure his face was physically on fire.

He left the plate, and went to the door, trying not to be too quick.

"Hi!" Eren said the second he saw Levi coming. He sounded like it was the highlight of his day, seeing Levi standing there in front of him. "Will you come to play with me?"

Levi didn't know how to answer to that eager grin.

"I-" He looked at Mom.

"Of course you can go, Levi", she told him. "I need to take a nap, anyway. You'll have much more fun outside while I sleep." Then she turned to the babysitter. She couldn't be more than five years younger than Mom. "If it's okay with you to have two boys to look after?"

"It's fine!" Eren answered for her. "Mikasa is the best babysitter in the world! She will keep us save."

Mikasa the babysitter confirmed his words with a nod. "We'll probably be out for few hours."

"Okay." Mom knelt next to Levi and cupped her hand on his cheek. "Why don't you go change your clothes."

Levi noticed he was still wearing his night clothes. A gray t-shirt with multiple holes, and sweatpants that were two sizes too big.

"Yes", he said quietly, embarrassed, and turned to leave. He wasn't sure if he had anything better to put on. He wasn't even sure if Eren would change his mind about having him, Levi being such an awkward poor kid.

Not that Levi ever felt shame for it. Ever. He was proud of his Mom and himself, and he never cared about what others thought.

He wanted to think he didn't care what Eren was thinking about him and his visible flaws.

He wanted to hope for the best.

Levi heard Eren calling after him: "I see you soon!"

Levi's thoughts managed to catch some of Eren's unexplained excitement. He glanced at the boy, and with the sight of Eren's ever so wide smile, Levi felt the little bubbles in his belly again.

He gave Eren a tiny smile of his own.

"I'll be right there."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments and kudos give me so much happiness, thank you! ♡

"You have to move both legs", Eren instructed. "At the same time."

Levi tried, but the swing didn't move any faster. He looked disappointed, almost miserable. That wasn't at all what Eren wanted.

Earlier, Eren had shown Levi how to make awesome sandcastles. Not the ones where you only had one tower, but a big one with a moat and everything! Mikasa had to help them, but it had still been easier than this.

Eren couldn't believe Levi hadn't been on a swing before! How was that even possible when they both lived this close to the playground? And surely they were allowed to use the swings at Levi's school.

"Here, let me help!" Eren jumped down from his own swing and ran behind Levi.

"What are you doing?" Levi asked, trying to look at Eren over his shoulder.

Eren placed his hands on Levi's back and gave him a push. "Now, move your legs!"

Levi tried. It didn't help much, but since he was already moving, it didn't matter.

"You're doing it!" Eren cheered, giving him few more pushes to make him go faster and higher.

"Watch for your head, Eren", Mikasa warned him.

She was standing next to them, not letting Eren get out of her sight. Sometimes Eren though it was a little annoying. Lately, though, Mikasa had started texting a lot more than she used to. Eren was sure she had a boyfriend or a girlfriend (Mikasa hadn't answered in any of his questions about it).

"Yeah, yeah." Eren ran in front of the swings, to see Levi's reaction. "Isn't it fun?"

"Yeah."

Levi was smiling, at least Eren thought that was a smile. It was enough to make Eren happy and proud of himself.

He clapped his hands.

"Yes! Now try jumping off."

 _"What?"_ Levi sounded like Eren had just asked him to eat a maggot.

Which, Eren reminded himself, he should try to do later. Just to see what Levi would say, and to see the look on his face.

"It's okay", Eren assured. "It's totally safe. Jump when you're up _here_." He lifted his arm and jumped, pointing at the imaginary spot in the air. "You can just let go of the swing and let yourself drop down, if it feels easier. It still counts as a jump."

Levi frowned at Eren.

Eren smiled at Levi.

"I'm going to hit you", Levi said, but prepared himself for the jump.

"Better your face on me than on the ground." When Levi didn't look any relaxed, Eren added: "You won't hit me. I'll move away when you jump."

Levi didn't look afraid, doubtful at most. But he seemed to trust Eren.

The swing reached the point and Levi let go. He didn't fly far, but farther than Eren had anticipated.

Good thing Levi was light, so he didn't knock Eren down when landing against him. Eren catched Levi into his arms so he wouldn't fall on his knees.

"I told you I'd hit you!" Levi pushed Eren's arms away and stepped back. "I hurt you!"

"No you didn't." Eren laughed, though, he was a bit hurt that Levi wanted to get away from him so fast.

"I could have!"

Eren stepped a little closer to the other boy.

Mom had said that Eren's smile was contagious. That any smile could be. Things felt better if you smiled, even if you were sad or faking it. If you smiled long enough, the smile would heal a bad day.

So even if Eren felt little afraid about Levi now being mad at him, he kept smiling, hoping it would make Levi feel better, too.

"But wasn't it fun?" he tried.

Levi looked at him, his eyes and lips tense like they had been on the day the had met.

It had been only yesterday. Yet, Eren felt like Levi was his friend. He _wanted_ Levi to be his friend. And somehow he was sure Levi wanted it too, no matter how angry he looked.

"Yeah", Levi then mumbled. "It was fun."

Eren felt his own smile wider. "You wanna go again?"

Levi nodded and then, finally, smiled. "Yes."

Eren helped Levi to swing higher. This time he watched from the side as Levi jumped.

He landed beautifully on his feet. Eren was impressed.

"How was that?" Levi asked, obviously very proud of himself.

"Great! It was perfect, right, Mikasa?"

"It was nice", Mikasa commented, checking her phone.

Levi smiled, and Eren was sure Mom would like that smile. Eren sure did. Levi's smile was like a pretty secret he only got to see if he deserved it.

Levi jumped a couple of times more, Eren did a few jump himself. They laughed after every jump, Mikasa made sure Eren would remember to bend his knees while landing. She had moved to sit on the bench, eyes shifting between them and her phone.

They weren't the only ones on the playground. There was a small group of boys, probably a few years older than Eren, who seemed to think they were too cool to play in the sandbox, and were now trying to climb to the roof of the playground's wooden playhouse.

Eren thought that one of them, the biggest one, looked like an ugly gorilla. The other ones were like a lizard and a… hamster. Eren was sure he didn't like any of them, so he ignored them.

But then the boys walked to the swings, and Gorilla shouted: “Move it, midgets. Our turn.”

“Ask nicely”, Levi said calmly, moving his legs with the swing.

Eren nodded. “Yeah!”

“Yeah?” Gorilla said.

“Yeah.” Levi answered with a bored voice. “My Mom says you always gotta ask nice.”

“Well, your mom is shit!” Lizard shouted and the others laughed.

Eren jumped off from his swing and stared at the Gorilla, now only few inches from him. And other few inches taller.

But Eren wasn't afraid of him.

“Leave his mom alone!” Eren told him. He had met Levi's mom only once, but she had been very nice, not shit at all. And it wasn't right to call someone's mom that!

Levi looked at him, his eyes wider than Eren had yet seen.

Gorilla laughed at Eren's face. Eren didn't care. He kept staring angrily at the boy's stupid black eyes. He noted that Levi's blue-gray ones were much nicer.

Eren heard a thud from behind him.

When he turned to see what it had been, he saw Levi on the ground. Hamster was standing behind the swing, his hands stretched.

“Hey! Why did you do that!” Eren shouted.

He could see Mikasa putting her phone away and standing up from her bench.

“What are you going to do about it, tiny?” Gorilla laughed. It was a disgusting laugh.

No one would laugh like that to him, or his friends.

 _No one_ would hurt his friends.

So Eren pressed his hand into a fist and let it hit Gorilla in the nose, as hard as it possibly could.

It hurt his hand, but it was totally worth it. Totally worth hearing the stupid Gorilla scream in surprise and, hopefully, in pain.

“You shitty little -” Gorilla didn't get to say the rest of his words, because Levi's fist smashed into his cheek.

Eren gave out a laugh.

The others screamed with Gorilla and hurried themselves at Eren and Levi, who was busy kicking Gorilla in the knee.

Eren got a fist in his eye, a kick in his leg. He tried to bite and kick, like Levi, but he was too clumsy. Though, he did manage to give Lizard a slap.

“That's enough”, Eren heard Mikasa say from somewhere, and immediately felt himself being lifted up from the ground. “No fighting. I'm calling your parents.”

“C'mon, Mikasa! They started it!” Eren shouted from her shoulder.

“I saw you throw the first punch.”

“That's not fair!” Eren tried to struggle, but Mikasa was too strong. “And I can't leave Levi there alone!”

But when he glanced at his direction, Eren saw that Levi was doing just fine. So fine, in fact, that after getting one last kick in a place Eren knew would hurt a lot, Gorilla turned to ran away with his friends.

They yelled something about a crazy dwarf child as they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god, it's hard to write about a 6-year-old. I didn't know what kind of a challenge I had given myself... I love it, I hope I've done good so far.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has nearly 100 kudos... that's cool. Wow.
> 
> Thank you all, again, for reading, leaving kudos and comments ♡ It's huge and means a lot to me. Keeps me going and shit. Yay.

Levi didn't regret the nosebleed he had.

He didn't regret the three he had given.

Mom never scolded him for it, the fights he had been in, never told him he should have run or just let it be.

And Levi had been in fights before, it was hard to avoid them. Especially when the bigger kids on the school yard laughed at him and yelled stuff like "think you can beat us, shortie" or "I'll hit you so hard your mom will feel it".

Levi knew he would always beat them. No matter how big. He was fast and he learned quickly. He was becoming a strong kid.

He had seen how Mom had punched men in dark allies near her work, on the nights Levi hadn't fallen asleep on that couch. When she wasn't carrying him, men come at her more often.

That's how Levi knew how to punch and how to kick. Mom had told him where it would hurt the most. Of course, she didn't wish for him to go beat up other children for no reason, but she new it was a cruel world. For someone like Levi, someone like both of them, it was good to know how to defend themselves. How to make stupid people shut up and go away.

And that's what Levi would keep doing. And he wouldn't regret it.

Even if it meant he would possibly get yelled by Eren's mom, who was now standing right in front of him.

Levi didn't know how old moms were supposed to be, so he couldn't tell if Mrs. Jäger (as Eren's mom had introduced herself) was old, or if his own Mom was young.

Usually adults wanted to talk to each other alone, without the children disturbing their serious business. But Levi was not leaving Mom's side.

She looked small and scared, though, she could hide it so well Levi was sure he was the only one who would notice. Mom was as proud as he was, holding her head high and answering politely when spoken to.

Eren was standing next to Mrs. Jäger, somewhat worried look on his face as Mikasa told her story of what had happened.

"It's not fair!" Eren let out. "I only punched him because he hurt Levi."

Mom put her hand on Levi's shoulder. "Is that true, Levi?"

"Yes." Levi looked at Eren. "First they said mean things and then they pushed me from the swing. Eren was defending me."

Eren gave him a shy smile. Levi still couldn't believe he was real.

That boy had hit another boy, twice his size, just because he had been mean to Levi.

Levi would have been fine. He didn't need defending. He didn't practically mind what stupid people said or did to him. He could take care of himself.

Somehow, Levi was sure Eren already knew that. Yet, he had still done it.

"Darling, how many times have I told you  _not to start a fight!_ " Mrs. Jäger said to Eren. "Hurting other people is wrong. You understand that, don't you?"

"If they hurt some one else first, then I don't understand why I shouldn't hurt them back", Eren explained, his voice and face more serious than Levi had yet seen.

"That's not how it works, dear."

"That's how it works for me."

Mrs. Jäger sighed and turned to Mikasa. "Do you think their parents will come here?"

"I doubt it." Mikasa looked around the empty playground. She had summoned Mrs. Jäger there, Mom had seen some of the fight from the window and come herself.

Levi wiped his nose, his sleeve become red.

"They're not coming back", he said. He knew the boys would be too embarrassed to do anything.

"If they will, I'll kick their ass!"

"Eren!"

Eren didn't apologize for his language.

He had a few bruises on his face and a split lip. He had gotten the first punch, only because the big guy hadn't been expecting it. Other than that, they had beaten him easily.

Still, Eren was ready to fight them again. Levi was impressed.

Mom now had both of her hands on Levi's shoulders, her thumbs rubbing gently against him.

"How do we go on from here?" she asked Mrs. Jäger.

When Mrs. Jäger was finished looking at her son like she would set him on fire, she answered: "You do what you feel best with Levi. Eren here won't get dessert for a week."

"Mom!" Eren protested.

Mom seemed relieved Mrs. Jäger didn't yell at her or Levi. Didn't blame them. Levi was grateful, too.

"We'll go home, Levi." She said and took his hand in her own. "We'll just got the time to have a picnic before we have to leave."

"You can't stay?" Eren asked.

Levi shook his head. "No."

Eren looked like a sad puppy, and it strangled Levi's little heart.

Mom looked sad, too, but she had no choice but to take Levi with her.

"You can play again tomorrow", she told them both.

It wasn't fun, but Levi could manage. Knowing he would see Eren again tomorrow made him happier than he could understand.

"Unless", Mrs. Jäger said thoughtfully. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you going tonight?"

Levi felt Mom tense when she answered: "My work."

Mrs. Jäger looked at them. Then she smiled, a warm and welcoming smile, just like her son's.

She didn't ask where Mom worked (Levi had a feeling she knew more about it than he did), didn't look at Mom like most people, judging, sometimes horrified, even.

No, Mrs. Jäger said: "How about we take care of Levi for you tonight? It must be exhausting for both of you, bringing him along."

Levi wasn't sure he had heard it right.

"I..." Mom said, now clearly uncomfortable. "I work late. It can be till 4am. We don't want to bother you."

"It's okay, Levi can stay the night!" Eren jumped up and down, so excited he might climb a three with all that energy.

Mrs. Jäger chuckled at her son. "Yes. It's Saturday, after all. It wouldn't be any trouble at all."

"I don't know..." Mom frowned, eyes on the ground.

Levi didn't know much about adults, but he did know that most of them thought it wasn't suitable for Mom to take him with her. Mom's work "wasn't good for a little child to be around".

But there wasn't much she could do about it.

Levi had never complained about waiting for Mom at her work. He was used to it.

Mom had never said he was a burden. He knew he wasn't.

She was squeezing Levi's small hand, and Levi thought it would be hard for her, to leave Levi behind.

Given that Levi had known Eren only for two days, this was brave of their parents. It would be brave of him, if he, for the first time in his life, would spend a night somewhere else, without Mom.

Mrs. Jäger kept smiling as she said: "Eren's friends are always welcome."

 _Friends_ , Levi thought.

_Was it real now?_

Mom looked at him. "Do you want to go?"

Levi nodded, his face serious but his insides bubbling, like his stomach and heart would burst out of him any second.

"I do", he said.

"YES!" Eren shouted and hugged Mrs. Jäger's arm.

Levi smiled.

"You can come to dinner, too, if you want", Mrs. Jäger offered, but to that, Mom said:

"You're very sweet, thank you. But we already have dinner plans for today."

There were only so many favors she would accept.

"That's okay", Mrs. Jäger said. "You can drop Levi at out door when you need to leave. We live on the fifth floor."

"I know."

"I'll give you our phone numbers. And Levi can stay late on the morning, so you don't have to wake up too early."

Eren looked like he couldn't contain himself. 

Mom smiled, pale eyes grateful at Mrs. Jäger. "You're so kind."

She was, they both were, and it was incredible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write it "Jäger" because I got the power of ä and I'm not afraid to use it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at work, as I do with most of my fics. I am the employee of the flipping year.

"Levi is coming!"

Eren ran around the apartment so fast he was almost flying.

"Levi is coming!'"

He ran on his dad for the fourth time on that evening. Dad catched him before he fell.

"Dad!" Eren panted. "You know Levi's coming?"

"Yes, and I'm pretty sure the whole building knows it, too", Dad said.

Mom laughed in the living room.

Eren jumped up and down in Dad's arms, full of raw excitement, unable to contain himself.

Finally, the doorbell rang.

"THAT'S HIM!"

Eren sprinted to the door and opened it himself.

And yes, there was Levi with his mom. He holding his backpack with both hands.

"Hi Levi! Hi Ms. Ackerman."

"Hello again, Eren." Levi's mom's voice was sweet, like every mom's voice when they were talking to children. Eren liked that voice.

"Hi", Levi said, his grip tight on the backpack.

Eren smiled to him, hoping Levi would get more relaxed by it. It was going to be such a fun evening, no need for a serious face!

Eren had had friends over before. Not too often, but still. It was amazing, to have a friend next to you until you both were too sleepy to continue playing.

And he was going to share that with Levi.

"Come in!" Eren told them and jumped out of the way. "You too, Ms. Ackerman."

"Thank you, Eren, but I need to leave now", Levi's mom said.

"Oh."

She knelt next to Levi, bringing her face close to his. "You'll be okay, right, Levi?" she said, gently.

Levi nodded.

"He will, we'll take good care of him!" Eren promised.

Levi's mom smiled at him. "Thank you, Eren. You and your mom are being so nice to us."

"Of course we are!" Eren announced. He would treat Levi like his best friend. Because something inside of him told Eren that Levi was worth it.

"Yes", Mom said. Eren hadn't noticed her standing behind him. "We'll be fine."

Levi's mom nodded and gave Levi a kiss on his cheek. Then, she stood up and said to Mom: "Levi doesn't have a bedtime, he falls asleep when he's tired. Though, it can take a while. If he can't sleep at all, just give him tea to calm him down. It should help. He doesn't have any allergies, but he doesn't like dust too much. It makes him sneeze."

She put hair behind her ear. "I hope I didn't forget anything..."

"You can call us if anything comes to your mind", Mom said with a smile.

"You too", Levi's Mom said. "Call if there's anything. And thank you."

"It's no problem at all", Mom told her.

Levi's mom put her hand on Levi's back.

"I'm going now. See you tomorrow, Levi."

"See you tomorrow", Levi answered, his eyes on her, assuring he would be fine.

She gave one more kiss on his hair before leaving.

Eren beamed with joy as Levi stepped inside his home. He took his hand and said: "Come!"

They quickly said hi to Dad, but Eren was in too much hurry dragging Levi into his room.

Soon they were sitting on Erens bright blue Fatboy. Or Levi was sitting, calmly taking in every detail of Eren's room, while Eren was lying on his back, holding both of his legs up to the ceiling.

"You don't have a dad", Eren observed, suddenly realizing he had only seen a mom.

"Of course I do, somewhere", Levi answered and looked at him. "Otherwise I wouldn't exist."

"Why?" Eren turned to lay on his tummy, eyes now curious.

"Because you need a man and a woman to make a baby", Levi explained.

"Why?" Eren frowned. "Uncle Erwin has a boyfriend and they want a child. Mom said they will have one in August."

Levi shrugged. "To get a baby in mom's belly, you need something from a dad. That's what my Mom said. And dad's can't have a baby in their belly. So maybe your Uncle gets the baby from a mom who wants to help them."

Eren thought about it and decided he would ask Mom about it later.

"So you don't know where your dad is?" he asked next.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because Mom didn't want to see him again. And neither do I."

Eren tilted his head. "Don't you want to know who your dad is?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Because I got Mom and I don't need anyone else."

His serious tone sent Eren thinking again.

"What do you mean you don't need anyone else?" he asked. "Dad's are cool. At least my Dad is."

"My dad probably wasn't."

"But you can't _only_ have your mom", Eren stated. "You need friends."

Levi looked away from him as he said, quietly: "I got you now, don't I?"

Eren sat upright, his smile so big it hurt his cheeks. "Yes. You got me now."

Levi smiled. It was that beautiful smile Eren wished he could see more often.

Eren rested his chin on his hands, eyes never leaving Levi.

"My Mom's a nurse. She saves lives at the hospital", he told, and asked: "Sometimes she works late, too. What does your mom do?"

"She goes in a room with men and plays with them."

That sounded fun. "What do they play?"

Levi shrugged. "I don't know, they never let me in. But once she told me that this one man wanted to play Monopoly."

Eren clapped his hands. "We could play Monopoly!"

Levi moved uneasily, so slightly Eren almost missed it. But he didn't, he was studying Levi too closely.

"What is it?"

Eren felt little concerned. What if Levi didn't want to stay with them after all? Eren didn't want to _force_  Levi into anything. He really liked Levi and he didn't want him unhappy.

Levi moved a couple of times more before saying:

"I've never played Monopoly."

"That's okay!" Eren said, happy he had worried for nothing. "I'll teach you. It's fun."

Monopoly was, by far, the most boring game Eren knew. Mom and Dad seemed to like it, but Eren never stayed till the end. But if someone had _never_ played Monopoly, they had to play Monopoly.

"Okay", Levi said. He was excited, he was just very good in hiding it. Eren could already tell that much about him.

Eren jumped up from the Fatboy, making Levi loose his balance a bit, and ran to get the game.

He set the game on the floor. He always wanted to play with the dog, but other than that, he told Levi he could freely choose his pawn. Levi wanted the iron.

Eren told all the rules he knew and remembered, and the game started.

After twenty minutes of playing, Levi confessed: "Monopoly is kinda boring."

"I know", Eren agreed. He was almost embarrassed he couldn't come up with anything better to do, until he figured: "Hey! You wanna play Mario Kart?"

Levi's frown was deep as ever. "What's that?"

"It's a video game. It's much more fun than Monopoly", Eren promised. "We play it all the time with Mikasa!"

Levi nodded.

Eren took his hand and guided him to the game console in the other room. He didn't need Dad to start the game, Mikasa had shown him how to do that just last week.

He quickly told Levi the basics as they sat down in front of the screen, now full of funny and colorful cars and characters.

Eren let Levi beat him a couple of times, before realizing Levi didn't need Eren to go easy on him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost midnight here and I need to wake up early for work. Oops.
> 
> Sometimes I stop, look at what I just wrote and think "how the heck did they end up talking about this?" 
> 
> Eren calls Erwin "Uncle" but they're not related, just family friends.
> 
> The next chapter might take a while to update (though now that i said it it's probably still going to be only few days. We'll see)The official reason is that I really should concentrate on my studies. I need to write a research plan(or something like that) and convince my fellow students and the professor that I can and will do a study on mermaids next year. Because I'm cool like that. The real reason though is that I have this one eremin fic I really want to write and get done. And that'll take me a few days... So yeah. 
> 
> Oh and I have tumblr humanityssweetest.tumblr.com if you're interested in stuff like that... probably gonna do more babbling there at some point.
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> Thank you for reading!! Hope you liked it~


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna write and post this yesterday, but then my employer asked me to come to work a few hours early so we could watch the new episode of Game of Thrones together. We ended up watching tv for 4 hours. 
> 
> More importantly:  
> I'm still following my original plan, but as it turns out, the Math is not strong with me. So it seems I need to add a few chapters more. The last one will be an epilogue kind of thing, I think.
> 
> There's spoilers for Star Wars episode IV-VI in this chapter. Don't know if that was worth mentioning, but I'm not taking any risks.

Not only did Eren have a nice room, he had _two_. Or at least Levi assumed this room was his, too. This one had a bed, when the other one had only had that big bean bag. All the toys (there had been a lot of them) had been in the other room. In this room, Eren had a huge tv and many game consoles Levi hadn't even heard of.

Levi wasn't jealous. He hadn't known about all these things, hadn't known if he would need them in his life. He had come this far without them.

But he was happy Eren was so willing to share it all with him.

Monopoly had been dumb, but Mario Kart was great. He had quickly figured what is was about and beat Eren way too easily.

Levi knew Eren had let him win for a while. And he kind of wanted to hug Eren for it.

"Stupid game", Eren murmured as Levi beat him again. "Your car is better than mine."

"Are the cars different somehow?"

"Yes", Eren said. "I'm not sure how, but your car is definitely faster than mine."

"Or then I'm just better than you."

Eren pushed his shoulder, gently but hard enough for Levi to get that  _he_ was a jealous of Levi.

It made Levi smile a bit.

"You had never played this, just like you had never been in a swing. And still you play better than Mikasa, you jump from the swing like you had wings", Eren wondered. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Levi stared at the cars as the new race begun.

"I don't know how to be a friend", he whispered, kind of hoping Eren hadn't heard it.

It was something that had bothered him the whole day. The whole beautiful day he had spent with Eren.

Levi hated feeling insecure. _Hated_ it. If anyone ever tried to make him feel that way, telling him he was too small to be a first grader, or that his clothes were ugly, if anyone ever told Levi he wasn't good enough, he punched them. At least once.

But what if you cared for the person who made you feel insecure and shy?

"What was that?" Eren asked and tore his gaze from the tv screen. His car fell from a bridge, straight into the ocean.

Eren looked comfortable and easy when he was with Levi (and it was amazing), but Levi had no idea how things worked. 

Apparently, they _were_ friends.

But how long would that last, if Levi would mess it up? 

"Nothing."

Levi's car had already gotten to the finish line, but he didn't move his eyes from it.

"Don't "nothing" me when you sound so sad. Don't be sad", Eren ordered, frowning as he tried to look serious. "We're supposed to have fun."

"I am having fun."

Levi expected to get _"Well, you don't look like it!"._

Instead, he got: "You don't have to do anything special to be my friend."

Levi finally turned to look at Eren. 

_What was that?_

Eren was still frowning, but as if he was doubting something or worried.

What would he be worried about?

He looked into Levi's eyes, intensely, and told him: "You only have to like me. And I like you, so you're a perfect friend for me. So don't worry about that. You don't have do anything more."

Levi swallowed the last pits of spit from his dry mouth.

Was Eren asking if Levi liked him? Was he serious?

Eren's bright eyes and beautiful face were very serious, very strong, and it almost scared Levi.

But more than that, it filled him with awe

It was a new kind of beautiful, it showed Levi how much Eren cared. How much he actually gave a crap (Levi had learned that from the people in Mom's work) about things. About this simple little thing. About Levi.

Levi was more thankful than ever. Thankful he could be there, see Eren, sit next to Eren, talk to him and hear his voice.

"Of course I like you", Levi said and tried to give Eren a look that would match his green gaze.

Eren burst into a smile, all his worries gone. "That's great!"

Levi heard a little laugh coming out of his own mouth.

It was more than great.

_It was so much more than great._

"Thank you", Levi whispered again, smiling, now knowing Eren would always hear him.

Mrs. Jäger knocked on the door. "Boys? You want pancakes?"

"Yes!" Eren shouted and jumped up. He offered his hand to Levi. "C'mon! I bet I can eat more pancakes than you!"

Levi let Eren help him up and followed him to the kitchen. The kitchen itself was almost the size of Levi's home.

He wondered how one building could have two homes that were so different.

Levi ate two pancake, Eren ate three and a half. Levi could have eaten a few more, he now knew he really liked pancakes. But more than that, he liked watching Eren celebrate the victory of his own silly eating contest.

After their pancake break, they watched a movie called Star Wars. Eren had already seen it with Mikasa, so it was fine.

Levi had seen videos and some movies at school. But he wanted to think this was his first time watching a movie.

They were sitting in the living room. The couch was huge, but somehow Eren was sitting so close to him their arms were constantly touching.

They had popcorn. It was messy, Levi's fingers got all buttery. But when Eren offered the bowl to him, Levi took another handful.

"Is he going to be her boyfriend?" Levi asked when the man in white clothes admired the hologram of a woman with funny hair.

"What, no!" Eren shook his head. "Luke and Leia are brother and sister!"

Levi frowned. "They didn't mention that."

"They tell it later", Eren said, his mouth full of popcorn. "Leia likes Han. They will get married and have babies. I mean, not in the movie. In the movie they just kiss. But Mikasa once read me a story where they got married and had babies."

"Who's Han?"

"He's my favorite."

That didn't make it any more clear. But Levi figured this Han would come in later in the movie.

When they had eaten all the popcorn, Eren told Levi: "Darth Vader is also my favorite. He's awesome."

Darth Vader was the man in the black mask who breathed funny. That Levi remembered. "Isn't he evil?"

"No! I mean he is now. But in the end he becomes good again. He's Luke and Leia's dad, so he can't stay bad, because they're the good guys", Eren explained.

"Okay", Levi said.

"Who's your favorite?" Eren asked.

"I don't know."

Eren shrugged, his arm bumping into Levi. "That's okay. Maybe you'll know the next time when we will watch the second movie."

_The next time._

Levi didn't notice himself smiling.

It was already late. They had gotten the permission to watch the movie if they would go to bed right after it.

Levi would sleep in Eren's room, on a mattress. He didn't feel tired just yet, but he couldn't wait to got to sleep. In Eren's room. With Eren.

Eren yawned and rested his head on Levi's shoulder. 

Levi hold his breath and forgot to follow the movie for a few minutes.

Eren was bigger than him, heavy when he leaned his whole body against Levi's side. Levi didn't mind at all.

Levi didn't say anything, didn't ask anything. He was afraid he might make Eren move.

"Wouldn't it be nice", Eren whispered, already half asleep, "if you could come here every Saturday."

"Yeah." Levi smiled. His cheek fitted perfectly on Eren's soft hair. "Yeah, it would."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know kids who had seen all the Star Wars movies when they were like 5. So if I want my children to watch Star Wars, they will watch Star Wars. *drops the mic*
> 
> I'm a bit sad I didn't have time to actually watch Star Wars again so I could have come up with more stuff... but I guess that'll do.
> 
> Also 
> 
> I got [tumblr](http://humanityssweetest.tumblr.com/)  
> you can come stalk and talk to me~
> 
> And thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Everything had gone so well.

Levi had already been awake when Eren opened his eyes. It had been so funny, seeing Levi as the first thing in the morning! They had watched cartoons after breakfast, then Mikasa had come to take them outside. They had played on the playground, jumped from the swings and climbed on the roof of the playhouse (they had been so much better than the bigger boys).

Levi's mom had come to take Levi home after a while. She told them she had talked to Mom, and that from that day on, Levi would stay with Eren every Saturday. That's what their moms had decided.

Eren had hugged Levi's mom.

It had already been two weeks. Two Star Wars movies, two whole days with Levi.

Eren was so happy.

Of course they met on other days, too. Every day of the week, Eren was excited to go out to the playground and wait for Levi to come home from school. Levi would stay for a while and talk with him through the fence, he would tell about all the new things they had learned in school and what kind of homework they had.

Levi wasn't as interested in all that as Eren was, but he clearly enjoyed when Eren wanted to know what he was doing.

Today it was Tuesday. Levi's mom didn't have to go to work, so Levi could come out to play with Eren.

They were on the roof again, the playhouse roof, though, Eren would like to go see what the world looked like from the top of their big building. Mikasa didn't like them climbing, but she couldn't stop them. She stayed close, ready to catch them if they fell down, even though it wasn't a big drop.

"We will be fine!" Eren told her again. "You can answer Annie's text."

Mikasa frowned, but took out her phone and quickly read the new message.

Now that they were free from Mikasa's eagle eyes, Eren turned to Levi. "I know what we'll do! First you have to tell me about the mermaids!"

"I don't know about mermaids", Levi said.

"You said your Mom tells you stories", Eren reminded him. "Just tell those stories or make up your own."

"Umh. Mermaids live in the ocean."

"Yes!" Eren laughed. "And they lure men to their death."

Levi made a face. "I thought this was going to be my story."

"It's more fun if we tell it together!"Eren explained.

"I guess."

Eren pushed his shoulder, just a little. "C'mon. Your turn!"

Levi sighed, but tried: "When they lure men to their death, they eat them."

"Ooh, yes!" Eren nodded in agreement. "But wait, are mermaids only girls?"

"I guess..." Levi said. "Wouldn't they be mermen if they were boys?"

"But what if some of the sailors didn't like girls", Eren wondered, actually considering the thought, and not just for the game. "Would they survive? Would they rescue the others?"

"Or escape", Levi decided. "I don't think you can rescue one from a bloodthirsty mermaid."

"Yeah..." Eren said, thoughtfully, but now was not the time to think about things too much! They had come here to play.

So Eren said: "Hey, that would be a fun game! One of us is a sailor and the other one is a mermaid. Or a merman. Or something, but, like, the other one has to try to catch the other while the other tries to run away!"

Levi raised an eyebrow.

The first weeks he had been tense, had not quite seemed to get why Eren thought it was fun to aimlessly run around. Make-believe hadn't been easy for Levi, either. He had told Eren he liked to draw, but only draw things he had seen with his own eyes.

For two weeks, Eren had tried to teach him to see more than that. To make Levi believe things he could imagine.

And today, Eren decided, today they would be mermaids. Or mermen. Whatever.

"It'll be fun!" he assured when Levi didn't give him a smile. He _would_ get the smile. "See."

Eren jumped off from the roof, he heard Mikasa gasp. But it wasn't really a big jump. And he remembered to bend his knees, so it didn't hurt at all.

It wasn't Mikasa's voice that said to Eren: "You crazy? You could have hurt yourself!"

"Relax", Eren told to Levi. "And stay there. Or _try_ , because I am now a merman, trying to lure you to your death!" To make his point clear, he tried made himself move like he thought a merman would move, slowly walking around the playhouse, his hand on flapping his sides.

Levi laughed, maybe because he thought Eren looked funny.

"And how were you planing to do that?" Levi asked, his amused eyes following Eren. He was just asking a question, not exactly playing along yet. But so far, it was enough for Eren.

Eren stopped his circling to look at Levi. "That is a wise question, human. What shall I do to get you join me to my kingdom of freedom?"

"I thought you were going to eat me?"

"I am, but I'm not telling that to you!"

Levi laughed again, loud and clear so everyone could hear.

"Silence, you foolish human!" Eren shouted, laughing. "You will fall for my charm and follow me!"

Levi moved closer to the edge of the roof, but said: "What if I'm immune to your 'charm'? Then what will you do?"

"Then I have no choice but to take you from your ship! I'll jump really high and grab your ankle and pull you down with me to the deep sea!"

"No you don't!" That was Mikasa, looking up from her phone. "No grabbing any ankles."

"Aw, c'mon!" Eren wailed. "Just keep texting, we'll be fine!"

Mikasa didn't seem to approve that.

"She's right", Levi said from the roof, now swinging his legs as if only to annoy Eren. "Guess you just have to talk me to it then, merman."

Now he was getting it! It was still a dry performance, it wouldn't get him a job as an actor. But that was okay, at least he was trying.

Eren grinned and lifted his hands in the air. "Come come, my brave and beautiful sailor, and I shall show you the wonders of the waves!"

Levi shook his head, but there was definitely a chuckle and, for whatever reason, some pink on his cheeks.

"You say that, and yet I still have a feeling you would eat me", Levi said, sliding a little more closer to the edge.

Eren jumped, reaching for Levi's foot. He could almost have pulled it, but didn't. He didn't want Levi to accidentally fall off, not really.

Eren put his hand on his heart. "I give you my word."

"Your word on what?"

"On the eating." Eren stepped back and opened his arms. "Now, come!"

Levi shook his head again, smiling. "Okay then."

And Levi jumped, landing nicely before Eren.

"I knew it!" Eren cheered, clapping his hands. "No one's immune to my charm!"

"I jumped because I wanted to, not because of you", Levi tried.

"Either way", Eren said, shrugging. "You are in my sea kingdom now! And I will catch you!"

"You gave me your word!" Levi turned to run away. "Liar!"

"I gave you my word on eating", Eren noted. "And eat you I will!"

Levi was a lot faster than he had thought.

They ran, Eren chasing Levi, and just when Eren was about to give up and admit his defeat, Levi tripped on a rock. It didn't make him fall on the ground, but slowed him down enough.

"I got you!" Eren wrapped both of his arms around Levi and held him tight. "You're now merman food!"

"Oh no", Levi said, though, he didn't sound at all convincing.

"You have just been eaten", Eren told him. "Show me some desperation."

Levi lifted his hands on Eren's arms and tried to get free from his grip. "Oh _no!_ I have been eaten!"

With Levi's lazy fight for freedom, Eren only tightened his arms around him.

"It's too late now!" Eren declared to his prey.

Levi stopped struggling. "Is it?"

"I mean, it depends on how long you want to keep playing", Eren said, still holding Levi. "I could puke you out from my merman belly and you could ran away again. Or then you could be the mermaid or merman and I the sailor? Or then we can do something else."

Levi was silent for a while.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

Eren didn't really mind what they did, as long as they did it together. Anything with Levi was fun, even if it took him a while to adjust and to get excited about pretty much everything.

The joy on Levi's face was always worth it, and Eren felt like a king every time he managed to get the happiness out if him.

But, now that he thought about it, there was one thing.

"Levi", Eren said.

"Yes?"

"When can we go to see your home?"

"I..." Levi breathed.

Eren let Levi free from his hug.

Oh. No, no no. What was the matter? Had he made Levi uncomfortable with his question? He didn't want that, not at all!

"We don't need to-"

"I guess we could go there now", Levi interrupted him. "If you want."

Eren nodded. "Yes!"

Levi gave him a shy smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just start writing the damn chapter, I said.  
> I'll just see where it goes, I said.
> 
> I'm constantly little afraid I will not be able to carry the whole fic the way I started, like, I don't want it to fall flat or however I could describe it...  
> I hope that doesn't happen/hasn't happened.  
> ANYWAY
> 
> Thank you for reading~
> 
> Your comments and kudos give me life.
> 
> and stalk me on [tumblr](http://humanityssweetest.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
>  


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to update like 3 days ago. But busy happened. I hate when that happens. 

There would be nothing in Levi's home. Literally,  _nothing._

He wanted to show it to Eren, anyway.

At this point, it would be offensive not to trust Eren to be his friend. Even if Levi didn't have anything, not even a bed of his own, it shouldn't matter. Eren would stay.

That didn't mean Levi wouldn't feel nervous about it.

Eren told Mikasa to go home. She didn't do that, not until she would have talked to Levi's Mom.

"You got your own key?" Eren asked as Levi opened his front door.

"Yeah." Levi hadn't thought it was anything worth mentioning. He needed the key, so he wouldn't disturb Mom when she was sleeping.

"That's so cool!"

Levi shrugged. "Maybe you'll get a key too, once you start school."

"You think?"

Eren's excitement almost never failed to cheer Levi up. "Yeah."

Eren grinned and followed Levi into the apartment.

"Mom?" Levi called. "Is it okay if we come here for a while?"

What on earth could they do in there, Levi had no idea. 

"Of course." Mom got up from the bed she had been sitting on and came to meet them. She smiled. "Hi Eren. And Mikasa, right?"

Mikasa nodded. "Hi."

"Hello Ms. Ackerman!" Eren greeted and hugged Mom. He tend to do that every time he saw her, so Mom wasn't too startled. 

Levi was just as happy as Eren was about the fact that Mom and Mrs. and Mr. Jäger were so nice they let Levi stay with Eren every Saturday. He had expressed his gratitude back then, subtle, with a smile and a thank you.

Eren was still thanking everyone with the hugs.

As long as he would remember to hug Levi every once in a while, it was all fine.

"See, Mikasa, there's an adult in here", Eren told his babysitter after letting go of Mom. "So you can go home. Right, Ms. Ackerman?"

Mom nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble", Mikasa said.

"It's not!" Eren pushed her away with his hands. "You go have a date with Annie or something! See you tomorrow."

"It's okay", Mom said, and Mikasa finally left, mumbling something about texting Mrs. Jäger about Eren being here.

"Now! Show me your home!" Eren was so extremely interested, like he usually was, and it made Mom laugh.

"There's not much to see", Levi told and guided Eren further inside. "There's the bathroom. There's the living room -"

"You only got one bed?" Eren asked, eyes wide as they walked trough the room. 

"Yeah. We both sleep in it." Levi didn't mind it, sharing the bed, but he had a feeling others would think funny about it. So he never mentioned it.

"I wish I could sleep next to my mom every night", Eren said thoughtfully. He then turned to Levi. "Don't tell that to _anyone!_ Jean will laugh at me and tell me I'm a wimp."

Levi smiled. "I won't."

And there was the kitchen. 

"Who's that?" Eren asked, pointing at the drawing on the fridge.

Before Levi could answer _'No one, it's nothing, just a stupid doodle, don't mind about it' ,_ Mom answered for him.

"It's you, Eren", she said and went to take the drawing down for Eren to look closer. "Levi drew it on the day you met."

"Really?" Eren held the paper in amazement. "Cool! It's great, Levi!"

Eren, apparently, hadn't seen many drawings in his life. That horrible piece of paper was great only for embarrassing Levi right there right now.

Why had Mom put it there in the first place? Why hadn't Levi taken it off earlier?

_Because he had wanted to see Eren, every day._

Levi didn't know what to think about that. It was stupid.

"It's nothing." Levi wanted to shut himself in the fridge and freeze. Maybe then his cheeks wouldn't burn so bad.

"No one has drawn _me_ before", Eren said quietly, still admiring the doodle.

Levi was sure his face had invented its own color, a brand new shade of red. 

"It's nothing."

Eren's eyes were sparkling with realization. "Maybe you can become an artist when you grow up!" 

Levi snorted. "I'm not good."

"You will get better, of course!" Eren stated the obvious. "You can practice and draw me every day until you're better than Michelangelo and Leonardo and Donatello and Raphael!"

Levi made a face. "Who are they?" 

"Ninja Turtles", Eren explained. "But they were named after famous artists and painters."

Mom giggled next to them. 

"Okay", Levi said.

Eren gave the paper back to Mom and ran (the four steps it took) to the living room.

"But you'll do that when you're bigger. Let's play hide and seek now!"

Levi followed him. 

Hide and seek. Levi knew that game. Had seen others play it in school. It seemed fun enough.

But. 

"There's no place to hide in here."

"Sure there is!" Eren announced and looked around. "Just watch me. Or no, don't, you must shut your eyes and count to twenty first, and then I'll go hide, and then after you've counted you'll come to find me if you can!"

For Eren, Levi did. It felt stupid, to stand in the middle of the tiny living room, hands covering his eyes while he counted slowly.

"Twenty", he said out loud. "Here I come."

He opened his eyes and saw Mom sitting on the bed.

"Have you seen Eren?" he asked, trying to play along.

She gave him a mischievous look. "I'm not supposed to tell you that, Levi."

"Eren?" Levi walked around the room.  Obviously, Eren had hid under the bed. Where else would he have gone?

Levi didn't want to ruin his game just yet, so he kept asking: "Eren? Where are you? Eren?"

"I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER YOU! JUST KEEP LOOKING!"

Mom smiled wide at Levi's chuckle.

He didn't have to kneel on the floor to check if Eren would be under the bed. The voice hadn't come from there.

It had come from the closet, the only one they had, in the corner of the room. Levi walked to it and opened it's doors.

The light from outside made Eren's green eyes glow in the shadow.

"You found me!" Eren cheered, lifting his hands as up as he could. The closet was quite big, considering they didn't have much to put in there. 

"It wasn't that hard", Levi stated.

Eren tilted his head. "Do you think we could play here for a while? We can both fit in here."

Levi glanced at Mom. She nodded. 

Eren made room for him. "Come on! We can pretend we're going to Narnia!"

Levi got into the closet. He sat face to face with Eren, their knees touching. "What's Narnia?"

Eren reached to close the doors. "It's a magical place full of magic."

"Okay."

Eren laughed. "Or we can just imagine this is our little cave. Our secret little hiding place."

"Mom knows about it", Levi noted.

"Yes, but she won't know what we're doing or talking about in here!"

"She might hear us, though."

"No she won't." Eren gestured dramatically at the doors. "These doors are of magical wood, no one shall be able to hear our words trough them!"

"If you say so."

Eren gave a nod. "I say so."

It was dim, but their eyes got used to it quickly. Good, because Levi wanted to see Eren's smile as clear as possible.

Eren tilted his head and looked at Levi's mouth, watched like he was seeing something odd but special in there.

"What?" Levi asked.

Eren met Levi's eyes with a grin. "Your lips are narrow."

Levi frowned. "So?"

Eren shrugged. "I wonder if it would be easy to kiss them. I mean, I don't know anything about kissing. Mom kisses my cheek, so I guess it wouldn't be too bad if someone would miss your lips." He leaned closer to to get a better look. "And maybe they'll grow when you get older! I've only seen adults kissing on the lips, anyway."

Levi kept frowning, but only because he had no idea what else he could do.

"Why do people kiss on the _mouth_?" Levi hadn't really known people did that. Mom had only kissed his cheeks or forehead. "Sounds gross. Wouldn't it taste like food and spit? And what if the other one was sick?"

"I don't know", Eren said. "Mom says she kisses Dad on the mouth because she loves him."

Levi shook his head. It was still gross.

"Adults are weird." Eren announced it as an universal fact. "If I'd really like someone, I wouldn't share my spit with them." 

"Good", Levi agreed.

Eren leaned his chin on both of their knees when saying: "I would give them a really cool rock. I would pick it up myself."

Levi thought that was a bit silly. But sweet.

There was a silence between them. A warm silence, and turning that silence Levi did not want Eren to look away from him.

"Levi?" Eren then asked, lifting his head up like he had just remembered something. "Will you come to my birthday party next week?"

_A birthday party?_

Needles to say, Levi knew nothing of those.

"It's on Tuesday, so you don't have to worry about your mom."

What would it be like, who would be there, _what would Levi get Eren as a present?_

Levi wouldn't belong in there. It would be a disaster. So should he even try?

Eren nodded eagerly at something in Levi's expression. Levi knew by now that the shining smile on Eren's face meant he really,  _really_ wished for something.

So Eren really, _really_ wished for Levi to be there. And even though Levi knew that, it surprised him. And even though it all made Levi feel awfully nervous, his cheeks were aching from a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Let there be a closet they can hide in~~~" And suddenly there was.
> 
> Let me hear your thoughts!
> 
> Thank you for reading ♡


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love your comments, they make me so happy! Thank you. Keep them coming ^^ ♡

Eren should have told Levi it would be a costume party. He should have remembered it a bit earlier than at the second he recognized Levi's knock on the door.

Well, too late to warn him now.

"That's him!" Eren told Armin as he jumped up from the couch.

"Levi?" Armin come after him, leaving Jean and Marco behind. He had been the first to arrive, even Mikasa and Annie had come only a few minutes after him to help Mom in the kitchen.

Armin was wearing a brown suit jacket (it was way too big for him) and a bow tie, claiming he was "the Doctor". Eren said nothing, though, he was sure doctors didn't dress like that. His dad was a doctor, so he knew.

"Yes!" Eren ran to the door. "And you gotta be nice to him."

"Of course we'll be nice", Armin promised.

Eren didn't doubt that, but still, he wanted to make sure Levi wouldn't feel bad about coming. He wanted to make sure Levi would have fun.

Eren opened the door to see Levi, standing alone, holding a small brown package in his tiny hands.

Eren rushed to hug him. "Welcome!"

Levi hesitated with the hug. "Why are you _green_?"

"I'm the Hulk!" Eren let Levi go and stepped back to spin around couple of times, so Levi would see the whole glory of his costume. Mom had gotten him purple pants and let him paint all of his upper body and even his face green. 

"The _what?_ " Levi's eyes shifted between Eren and his own gray shirt, now smudged with green.

"The Hulk! He's a superhero who turns into a giant when he gets angry", Eren explained, excited. "Cool, huh?"

Levi looked suspicious. "Why are you the Hulk?"

"It's a costume party."

" _A costume party?_ "

Oh no, that didn't sound good. The panic creeping into Levi's voice was so well hidden, Eren doubted even Levi himself didn't hear the full sound of it. 

This wasn't good at all.

"Come to meet everyone", Eren tried. Maybe that way Levi could see no one was mean, no one would judge him.

 _No one_ , or Eren would punch them in both eyes.

Eren dragged Levi inside. "Hi everyone, this is Levi!"

Everyone turned to look at them, each giving Levi a smile and a wave.

"Hi", was the only thing Levi said. Eyes cold, his gaze turned immediately back to Eren. 

"Levi, this isn't everyone." Eren did his best to sound as cheerful as possible. _Smile. Levi, smile._ "The rest will be here soon, but there's Jean and Marco."

Marco was green like Eren, but only his clothes, as he was Peter Pan. Jean next to him was just a boring cowboy. If you'd ask Eren's opinion, he would say that Jean, with his long face, would have made a better horse. But no one asked Eren.

He pointed at the girls sitting close to each other on the carpet in front of the TV. "Historia and Ymir."

Historia kept smiling, Ymir gave a nod. She was a bit older than the rest of them, but they all had known she would come along when Eren had invited Historia, who was dressed in a pretty silver dress, her blonde hair on a bun. She was Cinderella, Ymir her prince Charming.

"And this is Armin."

"Hi", Armin said from behind Eren's back, a shy smile on his round face. "Nice to meat you, Levi."

Levi's face was serious (more serious than usual, Eren noted) and his cheeks glowed red. He looked around like Eren's friends were zombies waiting for the right moment to attack and rip his heart out. He looked like he would be ready to fight them all.

But he stepped back. "I don't have a costume."  

"That's okay!" Eren assured, all of his friends nodding in agreement.

"It's not", Levi said quietly, taking another tiny step to the door. "I should go." He handed Eren the present. "Here. Happy birthday."

Eren ignored the present and grabbed Levi's wrists. "You're not going anywhere!" 

Before Levi could protest, Eren dragged him to his room, the one with all his toys. He made Levi sit down on the Fatboy and told him: "You wait here."

Levi was still scowling like an angry grandma. And that was a very scary sight.

"Just take your present and let me go", Levi said, holding up the package. "Go have fun with your friends. I'm too boring to be here."

"Hush!" Eren had turned his back on him as he went to his closet. He knew exactly what to do. "Relax. You're not boring. I like you, remember? And that makes you my friend, so you fit right in."

"But-"

"NO BUTS." Eren pointed at Levi with a wooden sword he had found. "This is my birthday, and I order you to stop worrying."

Levi didn't look like he would obey, but he did stay down, eyes following Eren as he put the sword back and kept looking trough the closet.

Ah, there it was! Eren got out a bag, and from inside the bag a black cape, a mask, a -

"A lightsaber?"

"Yes!" Eren confirmed and gave Levi the full Darth Vader costume. He had gotten it a year ago, it had already been too small for him on Halloween.

It should fit Levi.

Levi studied the costume while Eren sat on the floor next to him. 

"Put it on!"

It was like the costume was made of gold and Levi didn't know how to handle it. Like he didn't even know if he liked gold. 

"Are you sure?"

Eren rolled his eyes. " _Yes._ "

"Eren!" Mom called from the living room. "There's more guests at the door."

"Yay!" Eren got up and pointed at Levi. "Put it on and come to the living room. We'll have cake when everyone's here! And I'll open the presents, too."

Levi held tight on the package in his hands and tried to hide it under all the Darth Vader.

He said, quiet but clear: "I don't want everyone seeing what I got you."

"Eren?" Mom called again. "Will you go get the door?"

Levi stared into his eyes so deeply Eren almost had to look away. He wondered what Levi had gotten him, and that only made him want to open the package even more. 

But there were many gifts waiting for him, he could wait a bit longer for the special one. It was from Levi, after all.

"Okay", he said, nodding. "Okay,  I'll open it with you after the party."

It seemed to relax Levi a bit. Good. That was good.

"Now", Eren said, smiling. "Put that on. And then come back to the party."

Levi opened his mouth, but Eren ran out of the room before he got to say anything. Eren shut the door behind him to give Levi the privacy he believed Levi wanted and needed.

Mom had already let Bert and Reiner in, Eren met them at the front door. 

"Happy birthday!" Bert jumped to hug Eren, almost making him fall down. Eren had gotten so used to hugging Levi, who was so much smaller than him, though, just as strong, that this felt all new. Well, of course all the adults he had hugged had been big, but that was different. 

Bert was nice, but Eren decided he liked hugging Levi more. 

"Happy birthday." Reiner handed him a box wrapped in bright blue gift paper. It looked funny against his read and yellow armor. Eren recognized Iron Man.

"It's from both of us", Bert told Eren as he let him go. He had paint on his face, ears on the top of his head and his clothes somehow all brown (and now, after the hug, slightly green) and fluffy. He was a puppy.

"Thank you!" Eren took the heavy box and carried it to the living room table to join the others. 

Bert and Reiner followed him and sat down to talk with Historia, Ymir, Marco and Jean. Armin was in the kitchen, helping and observing Annie while she tried to decorate the last cupcakes. It was hopeless, Armin kept giggling and Mikasa smiled to them from across the table.

Eren sat down next to Marco, they were still waiting for Sahsa and Connie. Then they would continue to the cake and the presents, just like Eren had told Levi. 

His eyes glued to the shut door to his room where Levi was, hopefully, turning into Darth Vader, Eren felt only little afraid Levi would think this all stupid and just leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank inkshaming for helping me with Armin, Jean, Sasha and Annie's costumes, AND giving me the idea that Levi should dress as a Star Wars character. She's my absolute fave and a beautiful human being, and I can't even begin to describe how bad I freaked out and died from happiness when she acknowledged my existence. So yeah. Thank you ♡
> 
> I might have made myself cry when I made Marco Peter Pan. (Because, you know, he'll never grow up.)
> 
> My [tumblr](http://humanityssweetest.tumblr.com/): humanityssweetest
> 
> This was edited on my phone(because I'm a busy little butterfly, damn it) and I'll probably come back panicking and edit more. Just so you know.
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> Let me hear your thoughts~


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final two updates will take time, there's no way I'll be able to write them within a week or two. But they'll be coming~
> 
> I could have written a whole fic about the birthday party... But I kept it simple. Hopefully not too simple.

Levi was not going to wear the mask.

The rest of the costume was fine, it fit well and felt nice. There was a mirror in Eren's room, but Levi avoided it, knowing he would probably regret everything if he'd see how ridiculous he must have looked.

He took a deep breath and stepped towards the door.

Levi left the present behind him. Maybe Eren would forget about it and never open it. That would be better, that way Levi wouldn't need to see the disappointment on his beautiful face.

The present had been his Mom's idea, and Levi still wasn't sure of it. Eren had probably wished for toys and games, stuff Levi and Mom couldn't possibly afford.

This whole thing had been doomed from the start.

It was too late to take it back now. Wasn't it?

When Levi got out if the room, he saw Eren hugging a new guest, a girl with purple balloons attached to her shirt with duct tape. She laughed at something Eren had said and asked if they had already started eating the cake.

Levi felt like running to Eren and stealing him away, hugging Eren himself and telling the balloon girl _"mine"_.

He wouldn't do it though, because of course Eren hugged his friends. All of them. Levi was not special in any way.

But since Levi didn't know where else to go, he found his feet taking him to Eren and the girl.

"What are you trying to be?" Levi heard Eren ask the girl.

"I'm bunch of grapes!" And she seemed rather proud of it.

Another new guest laughed at her, a boy with a short haircut and a big blue arrow painted on his forehead. He was dressed in orange and yellow, trying to be some cartoon character.

She hit his arm. "Shut it, Connie."

Eren stepped between them. "We were waiting for you. The cake is next!"

With that, the girl ran away to the kitchen.

Levi looked after her. "Will she leave any for us?"

Eren's face lit up as he noticed Levi. "You stayed!"

"Yeah." Levi couldn't help but smile at him. "Thank you for the costume."

Eren nodded. "It's yours now!"

Oh. Levi had no idea where he would use it again, if he even needed it after this party. But he was grateful, he didn't stop smiling.

Eren pointed at the new boy. "This is Connie. He, Sasha, Bert and Reiner arrived when you were changing."

A girl called from somewhere around the kitchen: "Come on, Eren, the cake is waiting!" 

"Okay, _okay!_ " Eren shook his head.

Levi followed him and Connie to the big table full of colorful sweets and cupcakes (some more pretty than others) and in the middle of the table, a huge birthday cake with seven candles on it.

Eren's place was in the end of the table. Levi sat close to him and next to Mikasa, because he already knew her. Sort of.

Eren got ready to blow up the candles, as everyone else sang. Levi knew the birthday song, he had heard it in school, but he didn't enjoy singing it, even for Eren. Especially when Mikasa's voice was so loud and beautiful, right next to his ear.

But Eren looked happy. And that made Levi happy.

The cake was good, as were Eren's presents. Strawberry and chocolate, a toy dinosaur, games and a lot of Legos. Levi didn't really know what to think of it all, this was his first party, so he knew very little about anything. He didn't have anything to compare it to.

He found himself sitting with Mikasa again. Annie was with them, though, she didn't talk much, only smiled when Mikasa said something, and mostly just stared at everyone with a rather scary look in her eyes. Levi liked her.

"Why are you wearing that?" he asked her, for she had a white sheet tied around her shoulders. Other than that, she was wearing ordinary clothes, jeans and a t-shirt.

"She's wearing it as a cape", Mikasa answered for her. Mikasa herself was a warrior from a Disney movie about saving China. Or, so Eren had told him. "She's dressed as a superhero."

"Oh!" said Armin, a blonde little boy Levi had first mistaken for a girl. Armin had tagged along ever since they had left the table. He was nice enough, though, Levi had almost gotten tired of him babbling about space and how big and amazing it was and how he wished to go there some day.

"Which superhero are you?" Armin asked.

"All of them", Annie answered dramatically, without looking at any of them. Still, it made Armin giggle.

Levi held the lightsaber with both hands. If he'd press the button on it, it would glow read and make a loud, irritating sound. He had accidentally pressed it once. He was making sure it wouldn't happen again.

"Are you having fun?"

Levi turned to see Eren, his face far less green than before. There was icing in the corner of his smile.

"Yeah."

Eren clapped his hands. "Great! We're going to play pictionary, come join us."

Levi was not joining a game involving drawing. He didn't want anyone to see his drawings. Anyone, except Mom. And Eren. Eren could see his drawings, too.

Levi went with Eren, anyway, but only watched when the others played, occasionally whispering Eren the right answer when he figured it out before the others.

Eren won, Jean become second, and that, according to Eren, was all that really mattered.

They spread around the living room to play with the many Legos. Levi had already stepped on two and decided he would not move from the couch before each and every one of those stupid bricks were picked up.

Eventually, they were, and people started to leave. Levi realized this meant the end of the party, and that meant that Eren would be waiting for Levi to give his present.

Was it too late to run away?

Eren was saying goodbye to the princess and her prince (who, as Levi only now noticed, was apparently a girl, too), and after Jean, the boy in green clothes, and Armin had finally left, Eren and Levi were alone. Though, Mikasa and Annie stayed to help Mrs. Jäger clean up (Levi offered to help them, but Eren told him he had more important things to do), but they let Eren and Levi be.

When they got to Eren's room and shut the door, Eren found the present and handed it to Levi.

Levi frowned. "Why are you giving it to me? It's your present."

"I want you to give it to me."

"I _am_  giving it to you", Levi said. "It's _from me_."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I want you to _give_  it to me. Take it and then give it to me."

Eren was being so silly Levi didn't know if he should snort or chuckle. He took the present from Eren.

"Here", he gave it back, too nervous to even think about smiling. "Happy birthday, Eren."

"Thank you, Levi."

Eren opened the present, more slowly than Levi's racing heart would have liked.

The papers fell to the floor from Eren's hands as he gripped the small blue frames and looked at the picture before him.

Levi couldn't bring himself to look at Eren.

To be fair, the drawing was slightly better than the one on their fridge. This time Levi had really remembered what Eren looked like, had really known the shade of his eyes. (And _god_ , had he tried to get the exact right color by mixing the blue and the green. It had been nearly impossible.)

It wasn't perfect, it was still just a drawing. Even if Mom had gotten the frame for it. 

Judging from the silence, Eren was still staring at it. Then, finally:

"It's us", he said in a quiet whisper. "You drew us."

Levi didn't need to feel the heat on his cheeks to know he was as red as his lightsaber.

"Yeah."

Mom had thought it had been the best idea to draw them both, hand in hand, simply just standing in the middle of the picture. Picture-Levi had black and gray clothes, picture-Eren was all bright green and blue.

Levi felt like apologizing, but he didn't. It would probably have made it even more awkward.

Eren didn't seem to be aware of the awkwardness at all.

"It's perfect!" His joy could be heard even from the dark side of the Moon. "Thank you, Levi!"

Not letting go of his present, Eren wrapped his hands tight around Levi. Levi hugged him back, though, he didn't quite get it. Why was Eren so happy to get something he couldn't even play with?

"Now I will remember you forever", Eren said, like he had just read Levi's mind. "I will always remember us."

"Why do you need to remember me?" Levi asked against Eren's shoulder. "I'm here. You'll remember me by seeing me every day. Or." Levi swallowed at the sudden thought. "Are you going somewhere?"

"What? No!" Eren let him go and looked into his eyes. "Of course not. No, but we will grow up and we will forget things. And I don't want to. I want to remember us like we are now."

Levi raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "Small?"

Eren laughed. "That too, I guess. I mean, I'm sure we won't be small forever, not even you."

Levi doubted that.

"Friends", Eren said.

"What?"

"I want to remember us like we are now", Eren repeated. "Friends."

Levi tried his best to hide the fear he felt lurking somewhere inside of him. "You think we won't be friends when we grow up?"

Eren shrugged, but smiled like he knew something no one else did, some wonderful secret that made him happier than anything. "Who knows what we'll be when we grow up."

That was true. They would grow, they would change. No matter how good friends they were now, no matter how much they cared for each other, things would be different when they got older.

They could be anything. And for some reason, when looking at Eren's smile yet again, Levi had a feeling it might not be a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I was going to make baby Armin have a little crush on baby Annie. Buuuut then I remembered that bigger baby Annie already had bigger baby Mikasa...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! ^^


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me some time to update.
> 
> The next one will be the last one, holy crap...
> 
> This one will be the last one where the babies are literal babies. They will be a bit older in the next.
> 
> Hope you enjoy ~

It was raining.

It didn't matter, because Eren liked the rain, liked the feeling of wet hair, the smell of all things fresh. And of course he loved the puddles that were born out or the raindrops.

So of course he had wanted to go outside right when the heavy rain had started.

It was a good thing Levi liked the rain, too.

He followed Eren around, his worn out rubber boots avoiding the puddles, for the left boot had holes in it. He didn't have a rain coat, so Eren hadn't put on his own either. It was summer, they wouldn't get sick. The air was still warm, even though the rain was cool.

Thanks to the rain, they had the playground all for themselves. No sane person would go out in this weather, that's what Dad had said.

Eren was now seven years old, had been for two months, and Mom had promised he could play outside without Mikasa looking after him all the time. The rule was not to leave the playground, other than to get back home.

Good thing the playground had a very good collection of rocks.

"Why are we collecting rocks again?" Levi asked, jumping over a big puddle Eren had just ran through.

"Because it's fun!" Eren answered as he picked up another one and showed it to Levi. "Look how pretty they are! And they're always much prettier when it rains."

Levi looked at Eren's rock. "If you say so."

Eren nodded and put the rock in his pocket. "I say so."

Mom wasn't all that happy with Eren's little rock-hobby. At first it had been cute, but after a short while all of Eren's pockets had been full of identical (well, of course they were not identical at all, according to Eren) rocks, and they simply didn't have anywhere to put them (though, Eren still believed he could fit a whole dinosaur fossil in one of his two rooms. How cool would that be!)

So Eren had to pick carefully the ones he would take home. Preferably he shouldn't take any, but since Levi had never been collecting rocks, it was Eren's duty to indruduce him into the practice.

"I like to think the ones with those white parts are diamonds", Eren told Levi who had just chosen a rather small one full of white spots and sharp edges. "They're the most valuable, but if it's not raining you can't spot them because then they look gray."

Levi listened to him carefully. "You're saying that sometimes it has to rain a bit so there can be beauty?"

"Well, yeah", Eren said and knelt to study one of the rocks more closely. "Rain isn't always a bad thing."

"No, it's not", Levi agreed and got down next to him, his bare knees touching the muddy Earth. At least his shorts didn't get dirty, only soaking wet from the rain.

"Look at this one!" Eren pointed at the rock, round and smooth with reddish spots on it. "It looks like a dragon egg!"

Levi leaned to look closer. "It's so small..."

"It's a tiny dragon", Eren told him, took the rock into his palm and stood up. "And it'll get bigger, for sure."

"What are we going to do with it?" Levi asked, looking up from the ground, rain hitting his face with all it's force.

"We're going to keep it!" Eren announced and handed the 'egg' to Levi. "Here. You can have him. Or her. Guess we can't know that until she or he hatches."

Levi held the little rock in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world.

He smiled. "When will it hatch?"

"I don't know", Eren admitted. "Maybe tomorrow night, maybe in a week or a month or a year, or in ten years."

Levi chuckled. "That's a long time."

Eren shrugged. "It won't feel like it."

Levi rose to stand right in front of Eren. He watched the dragon egg, his long lashes full of raindrops glittering in the faint light that shone through the massive storm clouds.

He was so beautiful. Eren thought it was maybe a little bit weird that Levi was so pretty. Not because Levi was a boy or because Eren was a boy too, but because it felt strange that a human being could simply be so perfect.

"What are we going to name him or her?" Levi asked Eren, his eyes still on the egg, not noticing Eren had been paying too much attention to him.

"If it's a boy, Han", Eren said immediately. "If it's a girl..."

"Frida", Levi said.

"What?"

"Frida. It sounds like _'freedom'_ ", Levi explained. He lifted his gaze to Eren, eyes shining with the wonder of imagination. "And what's more free than a dragon with wings? She could fly anywhere she wants to, and maybe if she's big enough she will carry us with her!"

"What if she doesn't have wings, though?" Eren asked. The whole idea of their very own dragon felt more exciting than anything, and it was even more amazing now that Levi was playing along. "Not all dragons have wings."

Levi shrugged, smoothed the egg gently with his finger. "We'll love her anyway, won't we?"

Eren grinned, the rain flowing down on his face making it look like he was crying, which he definitely was not.

"Yes", Eren said. "She will be our baby, no matter what."

"Or he", Levi reminded him.

"Or he."

Eren couldn't stop smiling. He was so very proud of Levi.

Levi put the egg into his pocket. He only had few rocks in there (compared to Eren's twenty) but Eren had no doubt Levi would keep them safe forever.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see", Levi said, tilting his head as he looked up to Eren's eyes.

Eren had grown taller, he would keep growing, and neither of them knew if Levi would ever be taller than him, even though he was older.

Levi's eyes were steady on Eren's as he said: "That means you can't leave me until it hatches. Otherwise you'll never know if it's Hans or Frida, of if it has wings or not."

Eren laughed. "I wasn't going to leave you, anyway." He felt a sudden need to hug Levi, he answered that need by wrapping his arms tight around the other boy.

"I will never leave my friends", Eren promised him through the loud rain.

  
Levi smiled as he pressed his head on Eren's shoulder and whispered: "Me neither."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story: when i was like 5 this one boy gave me a small rock and told me it was a dragon egg. I took the egg home but I was afraid it wouldn't like me when it hatched, so my mom had to take it outside that same night.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> Thank you for reading! ^^


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry (again) that this took more time than i intended.
> 
> I am so grateful to all of you for sticking around and reading, and commenting, and everything! You're all amazing, thank you. 
> 
> I hope you'll like it~ ^^

Because it was the first real day of summer, with the bright blue skies and green leaves on the trees, the only thing that matched the singing of the birds was the joyful laughter of the little girl in the swing.

Levi held the backpack tight, feeling it small and light in his grown hands. He watched her laugh and move her feet like he had taught her to, front and back, so she would swing higher than the birds could fly.

"Now jump really high", Levi told her and put the backpack down. "I'll catch you."

"You promise?" she asked.

"I promise."

She wasn't scared, she let out a scream of joy when her hands let go of the swing.

She flew through the air, right into Levi's arms.

"Again!" she giggled, burying her face on his chest.

Levi placed his hand on her small head, smoothing the dark and silky hair, and thought how he would never get tired in holding her.

He could only hope she wouldn't get tired of him, either.

She was still a child, she would always be, in some way. But already her tiny hands could grab Levi's fingers with such force Levi could only be proud of her. Already it was getting harder to hold her in his arms for longer than few minutes.

How she had grown, so fast and so soon.

They both had.

"You sure?" Levi asked her, before letting her free from his arms.

"Mmmh, no", she decided and took his hand. "Come see the rocks with me."

She pulled him with her, in the middle of the playground, where they all knew the best rock were.

Even though it wasn't raining, she still thought they all were pretty as ever.

"Dad, look!" She held out a reddish rock. "It looks like a heart!"

"Yeah." Levi nodded. "It does."

"You can have it!" she said as she gave the stone to him.

"But it's a very nice rock for your collection", Levi said. "Why would you give it to me?"

"Because I like you", she stated as it was as obvious as the sky being blue. "And you only have one rock in your collection. Now you have two!"

"Okay." Levi put the rock in his pocket (with the ones that hadn't fitted her little pockets anymore). "I like you too, you know?"

"I know."

Of course she did.

She stood up and hurried to get the ball. "Next game!"

The ball they had brought with them was old and worn out, but more precious to her than any of her dolls, even more important than the Darth Vader one. It was the main reason they hadn't gotten a new ball, even though they could now afford it.

She picked it up and gave it to him. Levi was supposed to throw it to her, she was supposed to kick it while in the swing.

Her tiny little five-year-old feet were very good at kicking.

After only few throws, the ball flew far and over the fence.

"Now why did you have to do that?" Levi asked her, making sure she noticed the laughter in his voice, telling her he wasn't angry.

"Because you have to go get it", she said. "I want to see you run!"

Levi didn't run, but he did go after the ball while she stayed in the swing.

"Hey, you there!" Levi shouted at the man walking to the playground just then.

The man didn't stop, but looked at Levi with those bright, amused eyes.

"Yes, you", Levi said, leaning his elbows on the fence, biting down his smile. "Can you get that ball? I'm not supposed get to the other side while the small one is in the swing on her own."

"You didn't say ' _please'_ ", the man said, but got the ball, laughing all the way.

Levi watched him walk, he could have watched him forever.

And he certainly was going to.

Eren was just as beautiful as he had been the first time they had met. His laugh, though now lower and (slightly)more controlled, was just as overwhelming as back then.

On some days, it still felt unreal that he was actually there.

"Hi Frida!" Eren waved at her. "You having fun?"

"Dad!" she screamed as she saw him. She quickly jumped off the swing. "Did you see that?"

"I did!" He was now at the fence, facing Levi."You taught her well."

"I taught her what you taught me", Levi said as Eren threw the ball back to Frida, who let it drop as she was busy running to them.

"So", Levi continued. "You decided to finally show your face here."

Though, he had known Eren would be late. That was why he and Frida had stayed on the playground, waiting, after Levi had picked her up from day care. The end of spring was busy time for Eren, with all the papers and exams, all the grades to give. But soon the students would go on their summer break, and the teachers with them.

Eren wouldn't get too much of a break, though, for he had promised to build Frida a playhouse to their backyard. And Levi would make sure he would do it this time.

They were going to visit Levi's Mom today. She was now too old for her former profession, had finally gotten a new job at a nearby restaurant, but she had decided to stay on her old apartment, for it, despite everything, was dear to both her and Levi.

And she had friends near, since Eren's parents hadn't moved out, either.

"Oh shut up", Eren told Levi before leaning over the fence to give him a quick kiss. He missed Levi's lips, landing the kiss on the corner of his mouth, on purpose, like he often did.

Even if it annoyed Levi a bit, he smiled.

Eren had never left him, just like he had promised. And even though they had moved past the friendship, realizing they were something more before reaching the age of seventeen, not much had changed.

All the pictures Levi had drawn for Eren were still on their fridge (next to Frida's many doodles that were pretty much the same amazing quality than Levi's artwork), to remind them of their precious childhood. To  remind them of what they had been, what they had shared. 

"You know, my lips have actually grown a bit", Levi pointed out when Eren missed the next kiss as well.

"Really?" Eren laughed and bumped their noses together, making Levi's heart do a small flip. It was amazing how, after all these years, it still felt so fresh. After all the time spent together, Levi was still so grateful to have Eren by his side. "I felt no difference."

Levi shrugged. "Guess you just have to try harder, then."

Eren grinned, not missing any of Levi's mouth this time.

"Ew, Dad, you're gross", Frida announced from next to Levi, leaning on the fence between them and Eren.

"I know, right." Levi tuned to smile at her and used the opportunity to pick her up into his arms again. "Sharing spit just because we like each other. That's super gross, if you ask me."

"Yeah!" She nodded, her eyes sparkling.

Levi loved her eyes. They were just like Eren's, for he was the one she had been made of. That didn't matter though, for she was just as much Levi's girl as she was Eren's.

The woman who had donated her eggs and been the surrogate mother had had dark, almost black hair, so one could think Frida had gotten it from Levi. But other than that, she was like a perfect, happy and determinate little girl-copy of Eren. And it was wonderful.

The years of saving every penny they could get, taking every job they found, to gain just enough money to make things possible... She had been their shared dream, together they had made her happen.

"Dads are supposed to be a little gross", Eren told Frida, reaching his long arm around her and Levi.

"Are they?" Levi asked him.

Frida giggled.

"It's okay!" she told them, pressing a slimy kiss on Levi's chin. "Now I'm gross too!"

Levi laughed and returned the favor, kissing her round cheek as Eren kissed her other. Her giggle even louder, she clapped her hands together.

Levi met Eren's eyes, and knew they were thinking about the same thing.

Frida was no dragon, but she was something far more perfect. Of all the things they shared, all the things they had together, she was the most beautiful one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did pick the name Frida because to me it sounded like "freedom." I searched for the "real" meaning of the name and found out it can mean "beauty" or "beautiful" and I mean how perfect is that?
> 
> Thank you, tumblr, for making it impossible for me to write even an innocent little child say "Daddy". So now they're both just "Dad".
> 
> And thank YOU for being there. This was my first ever multi chapter fic and I am so happy so many of you liked it! You made this even more fun~ I really hope this was good enough ending.
> 
> Thank you. ♡


End file.
